Hebrew word · H4411

מָלוֹן

melon

lodging

A place where one spends the night, from the root lun / lin, "to lodge, pass the night". It can be an open-air campsite on a route, a customary watering or resting spot, or (later) a shelter for travellers. Nothing in the word requires a building, a host or payment.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

place of lodging, inn, khan

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 4:24

Range of meaning

A place where one spends the night, from the root lun / lin, "to lodge, pass the night". It can be an open-air campsite on a route, a customary watering or resting spot, or (later) a shelter for travellers. Nothing in the word requires a building, a host or payment.

Against the English

The KJV's "inn" makes modern readers picture a hotel or tavern with an innkeeper. Modern versions say "lodging place", which is accurate. The NLT spells out "a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night", which captures the sense well.

How it drifted

In 1611 "inn" just meant any lodging. Later it narrowed to a commercial building. The English Nativity story ("no room in the inn") also adds a picture of a building with a keeper.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joseph's brothers open their sacks "at the lodging place" on the road home from Egypt (Gen 42:27; 43:21). That was clearly a stop on a caravan route, not a hotel. Joshua 4:3, 8 uses it for the place where Israel camped for the night after crossing the Jordan. Jeremiah 9:2 (Heb 9:1) wishes for "a travellers' lodging place in the wilderness". 2 Kings 19:23 uses it in the phrase for the farthest resting spot on a journey.

From the study of Genesis 43:21

Range of meaning

'Place of spending the night', from lun/lin 'to lodge, stay overnight'. Used of a travellers' halt (Gen 42:27; 43:21; Exod 4:24), a camp for the night (Josh 4:3, 8), and figuratively (Isa 10:29; Jer 9:2 'a travellers' lodge in the wilderness').

Against the English

KJV: 'the inn'. ESV, WEB: 'lodging place'. BSB: 'the place we lodged for the night'. NIV: 'where we stopped for the night'.

How it drifted

'Inn' suggests a building with rooms, a host and paid lodging. The Hebrew word says only that it was where they spent the night, quite possibly an open camping spot by a water source on the desert road between Egypt and Canaan.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek translation (LXX) renders the word with kataluma ('a place to unloose/stop') in 42:27; the same Greek word appears in Luke 2:7. Jer 9:2 shows that a malon could be a bare shelter in the wilderness.

From the study of Jeremiah 9:2

Range of meaning

Mālôn comes from lûn, 'to spend the night', and means any place to stop overnight: a campsite, a halt on a route, a rough shelter (Gen 42:27; 43:21; Exod 4:24; Josh 4:3, 8; 2 Kgs 19:23 // Isa 37:24, where it means a far-off resting point). ʾŌrəḥîm are people on the road, travelers or caravan traders (Judg 5:6; Job 31:32).

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'a lodging place of wayfaring men' is accurate. BSB 'a traveler’s lodge' may suggest a building. 'Inn' would be misleading if it brings to mind a run hostel with a host. The word may mean nothing more than a known spot to camp for the night.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Genesis 42:27 and 43:21 the mālôn is where Joseph's brothers stop overnight with their donkeys on the road from Egypt, clearly not a city inn. Joshua 4:3 uses it for Israel's campsite at Gilgal. HALOT and BDB both gloss it 'lodging place, night quarters'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 42:27 בַּמָּל֑וֹן at the lodging place

    At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

  2. Genesis 43:21 הַמָּל֗וֹן the lodging place

    But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.

    Here: From the verb lun, 'to spend the night'. It is a stopping place on the road where travellers and animals rested, most likely an open campsite or a well-known halt, not a building with rooms and an innkeeper.

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 4:24 בַּמָּל֑וֹן at the lodging place

    Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

    Here: "At the lodging place": wherever travellers stop to spend the night, from the verb lun, "to pass the night". It does not mean a building with a host. It suggests night-time, when the family is camped and exposed.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 4:3 בַּמָּל֕וֹן at the lodging place

    and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”

    Here: The place where travellers stop for the night, here the first camp west of the Jordan. Verses 19–20 name it Gilgal. It is a campsite, not a building.

  2. Joshua 4:8 הַמָּל֔וֹן the lodging place

    Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

    Here: A place to spend the night, from a verb meaning 'stay overnight'. It picks up God's words in 4:3, 'the lodging place where you will lodge tonight'. Verses 4:19–20 identify it as Gilgal.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 19:23 מְל֣וֹן [the] lodging place of

    Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 10:29 מָל֣וֹן [will be] a lodging place

    They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 9:2 מְלוֹן֙ a lodging place of

    If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.

    Here: A place to spend the night: a stopping point on a route, a bare shelter or campsite. It is not a hotel or a comfortable inn. Even this bare, temporary spot looks better than home.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.